Swami Sivananda Vani

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A Method of Philosophising -- EXCELLENT - TRY, SUCCEED AND ENJOY THE ULTIMTE

BLISS

 

When the aspirant sees the tempting and alluring form of a beautiful lady or a

fascinating flower or any attractive form he should philosophise thus: “This

beautiful lady with lustrous eyes and rosy cheeks and scarlet lips, though very

tempting now, is after all a mass of flesh, fat and bones. It is nothing more

than a combination of bone, nerves, skin and hair, and therefore, subject to

decay. This beautiful flower will fade away in a few hours. It will turn to dust

ere long. The beauty in the feminine form, in the fine flower is but a

reflection of the Beauty of beauties, the unchanging, never dying Self within,

the immortal glory of glories. May that all-pervading Presence of the

all-beautiful Lord, the source of all life, thought, consciousness and beauties,

be the sole object of my love and adoration.”

 

 

Requisites for Philosophising

 

Hard thinking, persistent thinking, clear thinking, thinking to the very roots

of all problems, grappling with the fundamentals of all intellectual situations,

a firm grasp of and penetration into the very presuppositions of all thought and

experience, is the essence of Vedantic sadhana. Deep thinking necessitates a

taking of recourse to intense Sadhana. A subtle, calm, clear, pure, sharp,

one-pointed intelligence is needed for understanding and meditating on the goal

of the boldest of all philosophical efforts: Brahman.

 

 

Philosophy: An Intellectual Science and An Art of Life

 

Philosophy is a moral and intellectual science which tries to explain the

reality behind appearances. It is the methodical work of the intellect which

aims at the knowledge and realisation of what 'really is'. Philosophy can also

be explained as the art of perfect life the way not simply of explaining what

ought to be, but of directly experiencing that which eternally exists. It is

love of wisdom, or striving for wisdom.

 

 

The Difference between Science and Yogic Perception

 

Science perceives things as they appear to normal human perception,

i.e., they appear to be whereas the Yogi perceives them as they

actually are. The Yogi perceives things intuitively and knows them in

their essential state. While each theory, each discovery of science,

that is put forward one day is contradicted and falsified by a fresh

one, the next, the realisations arrived at though Yoga are infallible,

as they are the direct perceptions with the highest instrument,

namely, the purified mind attuned to the Infinite.